Lighting the Northern Edge: Lake Superior's Ontario Lighthouses

Thunder Bay Main Lighthouse

The Thunder Bay Main Lighthouse was built in 1937 at a cost of $14,000. In 1971, it got moved about 3 feet when the steamship Simcoe plowed into it and did damage that took about four months to repair.

It was a grand day in Canada: July 1, 1867. That day four British North American colonies came together in a Confederation and brought into existence the Dominion of Canada (there are now 10 provinces and three territories).

But on Lake Superior, there was another reason to celebrate the summer 1867: St. Ignace Lighthouse, the first light on Lake Superior’s northern shore, was lit.

Lighthouses have been around for thousands of years. The world’s first recorded lighthouse was established in 290 B.C. on the ancient island of Pharos in the harbor of Alexandria, Egypt. Considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, it took 20 years to build the estimated 380- to 450-foot tower of white stone. At the top, a mirror reflected sunlight during the day and at night, a fire was lit. For more than 1,500 years the Pharos Lighthouse guided ships into the Alexandria harbor until earthquakes finally toppled it in the 14th century.

In 1733, the French built the first lighthouse in Canada, a stone tower at Louisburg, Nova Scotia. It was lit by a circle of oil-fed wicks carried in a glazed wooden chamber on top of a 66-foot column. It was destroyed in battle 25 years later, but the original is now being rebuilt as part of a historical reconstruction project.

With Canadian Confederation in 1867, lighthouses came under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Department of Marine and Fisheries. That didn’t change until 1936, when the Canadian Coast Guard – which was responsible for transporting lighthouse keepers and for lighthouse maintenance – came under the newly formed Department of Transport. Later, the Coast Guard became part of Fisheries and Oceans Canada and continues today to service all active lighthouses.

On the Ontario shores of Lake Superior, there are more than 32 lighthouse sites, some abandoned, moved or destroyed, but others still active aids to navigation or year-round emergency lights. While at one time keepers tended most lighthouses, today all of the remaining operational sites are automated. The romantic era of lighthouses and their keepers has passed … but their stories are still with us.

Here are just a few tales from these isolated guardians, some harrowing and one, literally, warm and fuzzy.

The first lighthouse, St. Ignace, was built on tiny Talbot Island, a narrow, rocky land spit considered by the Ojibway to be cursed and haunted by evil spirits. Ignoring the words of the Ojibway people, the government felt St. Ignace Lighthouse was crucial to warn ships of nearby shoals. Who could have imagined what happened next?

It started with the first keeper, William Perry, who arrived alone on this remote island in 1867. His first season went well, and after navigation closed in November, he headed out in his small boat for the Hudson’s Bay Company post at Nipigon, about 25 miles away. He never arrived. Next spring, his frozen body and boat were found on the shore of Nipigon Bay.

After Perry’s death, Thomas Lamphier, a mariner with 20 years experience on Lake Superior, was hired as the lighthouse keeper and his attractive First Nations wife as his unpaid assistant. The couple planned to overwinter on the island (to avoid the dangerous end-of-season crossing). To accommodate them, the government expanded the keeper’s house and winterized both the house and tower. Things went well during the shipping season, and navigation closed without any problems. Freeze-up set in. Then the unexpected happened – Thomas suddenly became ill and died. His wife was now left stranded, alone, on the hexed tiny rocky island with a body and no place to bury him. The options were nearly nil, but Mrs. Lamphier, a strong, resourceful woman, found one.

Taking the canvas sail from their small boat, she wrapped Thomas in it and wedged his body into a cleft in the rocks behind the lighthouse. Then she waited on the bleak island. Help didn’t arrive until spring when a passing Ojibway canoe party saw her frantic signal. They landed to find Thomas’ once beautiful widow now thin, distraught, haggard and white-haired. The Ojibway people took Thomas’ body to nearby Bowman Island (a mile away) where they buried him. A plaque on a white cross marks his grave.

Two years, two keepers, two deaths. Coincidence? Or was the island cursed?

Three years later, at the end of the 1872 shipping season, St. Ignace Light’s third keeper, Andrew Hynes, closed the lighthouse, loaded his small boat and with the weather clear, set off for Silver Islet, 50 miles southwest of Talbot Island. But Lake Superior is known for sudden, ferocious winter storms and soon, Hynes found himself in the midst of one. He battled the lake for 18 chaotic days before he reached Silver Islet. Exhausted, starving and hypothermic, he died a few days later.

By this time, Talbot Island was already known for its Lighthouse of Doom. The government, wisely, never sent out another keeper and St. Ignace Light was abandoned. However, there are those who say that sometimes, a woman with long white hair can be seen wandering the rocky island.

Early lighthouse keepers on Lake Superior were a sturdy dedicated group of Canadians, who were also fearless mariners. Authors Larry and Patricia Wright in their book, Great Lakes Lighthouses Encyclopedia, wrote about some of the sailing ventures of Battle Island’s first official keeper Charles McKay (1877-1913): One year, he left Battle Island in early December and rowed-sailed to see his family in Sault Ste. Marie. He arrived on Christmas Day, but could not get through because of the ice. Another time he rowed-sailed all the way to Thunder Bay (Port Arthur) on business 92 miles.

These days, the Battle Island keeper’s house is occupied in summer by resident caretaker Bert Saasto, the light’s last assistant keeper and the last lighthouse keeper taken off the Great Lakes when lighthouses were automated and closed in 1991. I had a great visit with him a few years ago on the island. He’s a wonderful, friendly man who gave us a fascinating tour of the lighthouse.

In the winter of 1913-14, the first lighthouse keeper of Michipicoten Island’s East End Light (1911) decided to stay the winter on one of the most forbidding, exposed spots on Lake Superior. The keeper, William Sherlock, didn’t want to pay the high rent and cost of living on the mainland at Sault Ste. Marie, so he and his family stocked up on supplies and stayed the winter at the lonely lighthouse. “Voluntary imprisonment” is what The Sault Star called it in an article published on December 17, 1913. But the Sherlock family survived the ordeal.

However, William Sherlock’s adventures were far from over. Three years later in 1916, he and his son James escaped death while on a harrowing eight-day crossing on Lake Superior. It was a Murphy’s Law journey because anything that could go wrong, did.

He told the reporter from The Sault Star, “We left the lighthouse on the 14th of the month because our docks had been swept away by the ice and seas, and we saw that if we waited any longer we wouldn’t be able to get out. We started out at 2 in the afternoon in an 18-foot boat, and after we had gone about 14 miles we ran into a northeaster. Our pump froze and we had to take to the oars. … Our boat began to take in water, and we gradually had to throw everything we had away to keep afloat. First we threw away 25 gallons of oil, then an emergency sail we were carrying and finally our provisions. Our bodies were caked in ice and we could hardly bend either our legs or arms. One of the oars slipped away from my son in the afternoon and he reached for it, but slipped over the side of the boat; but fortunately I grabbed him and got him out of the water.”

A short while later, they beached on Leach Island. For the next three days, as William repaired the boat (which was in bad shape), they made a fire and ate their only food – a few biscuits. On December 18 at 4:30 p.m., they left Leach Island. They headed three miles up the shore, son rowing and father bailing, in the bitter cold and wind. On December 22, they arrived at Gargantua Lighthouse and with keeper Charley Miron left for Sault Ste Marie. Both father and son had badly frozen hands and feet, but recovered.

The following year (1917), William Sherlock was back at his lighthouse at the start of navigation. And in December, after the end of the shipping season, he again defied death, as he set out on the dangerous Lake Superior crossing to the mainland. It was the era when the Canadian government required lighthouse keepers to find their own way to and from their stations. Sadly, this time, William never arrived and neither he nor his boat were seen again. His wife, Mary Christine Sherlock, took over his keeper duties from 1918 to 1925. His eldest son, Melvin, was later head keeper from 1963 to 1964 and from 1974 to 1981.

Some lighthouse stories are far less horrifying, though heroic in small ways.

It was in the late 1970s when Dave Sokalsky took on the job of lighthouse keeper at Porphyry Point for a couple of years. It was the perfect job for him as he loved Lake Superior.

His friend Willie Hyrb, manager of Lakehead Shipping Company, had a heart-warming tale to tell about his late friend’s last year as keeper. “Of course, you know being a keeper is a lonely position with only you and the elements to contend with. Well, as the story goes, the last year he held the position, he had taken a kitten with him to keep him company at the lighthouse. I think he had clandestinely put her in his duffel bag on the helicopter ride out to his location.”

During the eight months (April to November) at the lighthouse, the kitten grew and roamed freely. Dave and the cat had a wonderful relationship, providing company for each other on those wind-swept nights and long days at the lighthouse.

In November, Dave locked down the lighthouse for the winter and packed all his things and the lighthouse gear that had to be serviced on shore. When the Canadian Coast Guard helicopter came to pick him up, Dave was in a silent panic – he couldn’t find his beloved cat. He had to lift off, leaving his pet alone on the island.

Willie recalls, “I remember him telling me that he was quite upset over this but didn’t mention the situation to the Coast Guard helicopter pilot. However, after arriving back at the Keefer Terminal Coast Guard base, his lost companion was weighing on him so much that he requested a return ride to the lighthouse in order to locate his pet. He knew she would not be able to survive the winter on the desolate point.”

Dave personally paid for the cost for the helicopter ride back to Porphyry Point. Shortly after landing, he found his precious cat waiting at the foot of the lighthouse door. He bundled her up into his long coat for the ride back to the base.

“It was a rather touching and fitting rescue that illustrated Dave’s compassion and caring,” said Willie, adding that the cat went on to live a long life.

Agate Island Light

Built in 1872, then moved in 1917 on a scow to the back of Quebec Harbour as front range light after the Davieaux Island light was built. White square 20-foot wooden tower, fixed white light from an iron lantern, visible for up to 10 miles.

Angus Island Light

Active. Built in 1927 to mark route into Port Arthur and Fort William (now Thunder Bay). Two-storey frame dwelling (replaced with a duplex) with open front veranda, topped with a hipped roof, simple pipe railing and a square wooden lantern with a red roof. Light replaced with a 44.5-foot-square skeletal tower; white flashing light, visible for 16 miles. Several original buildings remain. Owned by Canadian Coast Guard.

Battle Island Light

Active. Built in 1877 on a 60-foot-high rock face. Square white wooden 20-foot tower with an 8-foot-diameter iron lantern and separate keeper’s house and boathouse. In 1911, tower replaced by white octagonal 43-foot reinforced concrete structure. White light flashes three times every 24 seconds, visible for 15 miles. Automated 1991. Owned by Canadian Coast Guard, it is a year-round emergency light.

Caribou Island Light

Active. Established in 1886. Original octagonal wooden tower with a 1st Order Fresnel lens. Replaced in 1912 with a historic flying buttress-style lighthouse, one of nine designed by the Canadian government based on Gothic cathedrals. Only six still exist, two on Lake Superior. White flashing light, visible for 20 miles. Year-round emergency light owned by Canadian Coast Guard.

Coppermine Point Light

Established in 1901. Lantern on open-framed wooden pyramidal structure guided fishermen and marked the entrance and shipping route into Whitefish Bay. Replaced in 1908. The old tower moved in 1960 by two local residents two miles north for Lighthouse Tavern on Trans-Canada Highway 17, 60 miles north of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. Tavern is closed, but the lighthouse still stands.

Corbeil Point Light

Established in 1873. White wooden octagonal 63-foot tower built in 1931. Square wooden lantern rises from the roof of a white, square wooden dwelling. Deactivated 1966; owned by Batchawana First Nations.

Davieaux Island Light

Gargantua Light

Built in 1889. White, hexagonal wooden tower with a red lantern, destroyed by fire in 1949. Skeletal tower erected. In 1980, second tower replaced by 16-foot circular mast with red-and-white rectangular daymark. Owned by Canadian Coast Guard.

Gros Cap Reef Light

Active. Also known as Gros Cap Crib Light. Since 1927, a 130-foot lightship Gros Cap No. 22 marked underwater reef extending southwest from shore. In 1953, it was replaced by a concrete conventional pier with an “ice nose” (prow-shaped point to deflect waves and ice) and a white square integral concrete tower on the roof of a fog signal building; a red-and-white radio mast and a helicopter-landing pad. Some say light looks like a Great Lakes freighter pilothouse. Flashing red every 5 seconds, visible for 12 miles. Not open to public. Owned by Canadian Coast Guard.

Ile Parisienne Light

Active. Built in 1912. White hexagonal concrete 30-foot tower. Flashing white light can be seen for 12 miles. Separate white two-storey keeper’s house and a helipad (a large old compass, now faded, was painted on it by assistant keeper Ron Watt). Year-round emergency light. Grounds open to public. Owned by Canadian Coast Guard.

Kaministiquia River Range Lights

Established in 1873 as two range lights on a 5-acre site on river’s north shore. Combined with keeper’s dwelling and white wooden tower, rear (inner) light was a 4-foot-wide flatwick lamp with a 17-inch reflector, visible for five miles. Front (outer) range light was smaller lantern in square white tower. After fire destroyed one light, both were rebuilt – a rear light, visible for 10 miles, in a squat white wooden tower with attached keeper’s house; front light, white open-frame wooden tower, moved closer to the river mouth. Extinguished in 1908. Replaced with a lantern on a white pole on the Empire Elevator Wharf. Later light buoys took their place.

Lamb Island Light

Established in 1877. Original white, square wooden tower with red lantern with dwelling attached. Replaced by 40-foot pyramidal steel skeletal tower in 1961. White flash every 5 seconds. Owned by the Canadian Coast Guard.

Michipicoten Harbour Light

Established in 1902. Original white square wooden combined tower and dwelling replaced by a skeleton tower. Fixed white light, visible for 16 miles. User-activated foghorn. Owned by Canadian Coast Guard.

Michipicoten Island East End Light

Active. Established 1912. Flashing white light, visible for 14 miles; automated in 1988. Foghorn deactivated. White, octagonal 70-foot hexagonal tower, constructed of steel-reinforced concrete in historic flying buttress-style (one of two on Lake Superior). Not open to public. Owned by Canadian Coast Guard.

Mission Channel Entrance Light

Active. Established in 1917. Marked shipping channel into Port Arthur. White, 25-foot one-storey square building with red upper portion. Original fixed white light changed to flashing green in 1939. Site open but tower closed. Owned by Canadian Coast Guard.

Peninsula Harbour (Hawkins Island) Light

Active. Established in 1891. White square 56-foot wooden tower with a red iron lantern and attached dwelling. Flashing white light every 30 seconds, visible for 16 miles. Current skeleton tower with a white slatwork daymark was built in 1957. Flashing white every 4 seconds, visible for just under six miles. Owned by Canadian Coast Guard.

Pie Island Light

Built in 1895. Marked entrance to Port Arthur and Fort William. White square 23-foot wooden tower. The white dioptric light is a 7th Order Fresnel lens, visible for 11 miles. In 1930s, abandoned lighthouse bought for $15; lumber, windows and doors transported to Cloud Bay to build a house. Replaced by skeleton tower in 1953; in 1982, moved to a 25-foot square skeletal tower with a red-and-white rectangular daymark. Owned by Canadian Coast Guard.

Porphyry Point Light

Active. Built in 1873. Combined white wooden 36-foot tower and keeper’s house identical to two lights built that year at Michipicoten Island. Replaced in 1961 with a pyramid 48-square skeletal tower with white square central cylinder, lantern and gallery. Fixed white light, visible for 15-17 miles. Site is now the Porphyry Island Nature Reserve, popular with sea kayakers and boaters. Owned by Canadian Coast Guard.

Port Arthur Light

Established in 1882 on CPR dock. White 36-foot wooden tower. Oscillating white light visible for 12 miles. Moved in 1887 to the western end of the breakwater; later completely removed.

Quebec Harbour Front Range Light

Front light established in 1918 (the former Agate Island light, moved by scow in 1917). Fixed white light visible for nine miles.

Quebec Harbour Rear Range Light

Shaganash Island Light

Active. Established in 1910. Original white wooden tower destroyed by fire in 1921, replaced with 24-foot wooden pyramid tower. Flashing white light every 4 seconds. Grounds open to public. Owned by Canadian Coast Guard.

Thunder Cape Light

Established in 1874. White, square wooden tower, dwelling attached. Replaced in 1924 by pole light. Flashing white light, visible for five miles. Thunder Cape Bird Observatory established on the site in 1991, but only some foundations remained. Owned by Canadian Coast Guard.

Victoria Island Light

Established in 1881. Destroyed in 1904. Replaced with a white square 30-foot wooden tower with a red and white daymark. Eventually replaced with steel tower. Flashing white light, visible for 6 miles. Owned by Canadian Coast Guard.

Welcome Island Light

Active. Established in 1906. White octagonal wooden lantern rises from roof of a square 38-foot wooden building; 4th Order Fresnel. Original demolished in 1959. Replaced with one-storey bungalow. Additional keeper’s residence built in 1960. Flashing white light every 5 seconds on red, square skeleton tower about 100 feet north of the keeper’s house. Automated in 1974, but staffed until 1985. Site open; tower closed. Owned by Canadian Coast Guard.

Elle Andra-Warner is a best-selling author, journalist and photographer based in Thunder Bay, Ontario.